Seahawks doing a lot of woofin’ for Apple Cup

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It’s not hard to figure Roy Lewis’ Apple Cup loyalties, given the purple jacket with the big W hanging in his locker at the Seattle Seahawks’ facility.

Roy Lewis

The former Washington defensive back is one of three ex-Huskies playing now for Jim Mora, himself a former Dawg linebacker.

On the opposite side of the Apple Cup wars sits former Cougar cornerback Marcus Trufant, the lone Washington State product playing for the Seahawks. And even Trufant finds his heart torn a bit in this one as his youngest brother Desmond is a freshman starter for Washington.

“What’s on the line?” Lewis said this week, grinning over at the nearby Trufant in the Seahawks’ spacious locker facility. “You mean besides pride? We haven’t decided on a wager yet, but there probably will be one, hopefully.

“We’ve got quite a few U-Dub guys in here, so we can come down on Marcus pretty hard. We can crack his bank.

“He’s totally converted anyway with his brother (playing at Washington). We’re not even worried about his Washington State roots any more. He’s totally converted over to the purple and gold. So that’s a good thing.”

The other two Huskies playing for the Seahawks are running back Louis Rankin and safety Lawyer Milloy.

Louis Rankin

Rankin has a couple special Apple Cup moments, including his 89-yard kickoff return to open the 2007 game in Pullman. But he prefers the 77-yard touchdown run in he had in 2006 for one obvious reason.

“That was the last time we won it, so that was a pretty good memory,” he said. “I miss getting prepared for the Apple Cup. The Huskies are always expected to win that one. If there’s one game they’re supposed to win each year, it’s the Apple Cup.”

Milloy’s memories aren’t nearly as fresh, given he played at Washington from 1993-95. He couldn’t recall ever losing to the Cougars, though a check of the history books shows WSU winning in 1994.

Lawyer Milloy

But as a native of Tacoma, he recalls the ’92 game when Drew Bledsoe led the Cougars to a game in a driving snowstorm in Pullman and other stumbling blocks.

“No matter how each team is doing, that always has been a good game. It’s a true rivalry,” Milloy said. “Several times the Huskies have been on the way to the Rose Bowl and WSU spoiled it.

“Unfortunately those memories stick in my head more than anything. Like the Snow Bowl when Drew Bledsoe threw for whatever. Back when I was playing, we always treated Washington State like our little brother and you didn’t want to lose to your little brother.

“For a few years after I left, they got the upper hand. Now the last couple years have been pretty even, but hopefully this year we’ll handle them. Everybody is talking about the (point) spread and all that, but I just think we need a win.”

Jim Mora

Mora also remembers two difficult Apple Cup losses during his 1980-83 tenure. Washington went 2-2 during his time as a walk-on linebacker, but the Huskies lost his final two years, each time costing Washington a Rose Bowl berth during Don James’ heyday.

Chuck Nelson missed a field goal — his only miss of the season — in 1982 to cost the fifth-ranked Huskies a trip to the Rose Bowl and then Washington lost 17-6 his senior year as well in Seattle.

“It’s always a great week, though, in the state of Washington,” Mora said. “Maybe nationally it doesn’t get the recognition, but it’s a fun week. (I have) great memories from those games. Seniors standing up in the team meeting on Thursday and talking about what it meant to play Washington State and to win that game. It’s going to be a heck of a game. I hope people enjoy it. I hope I get a chance to watch it.”

The Seahawks will be traveling to St. Louis Saturday morning and might have trouble finding that one on television in Missouri, but a few of them figure to have a little action going one way or the other … if they can get Trufant involved.